hope to reach a decision soon on the schedule for the rest of the night." stay with msnbc for the very latest. we'll have live coverage for as long as it takes. abrupt halt. house speaker john boehner fails to drum up enough republican support for his debt ceiling measure. tragedy averted. a soldier was plotting another attack on the already shaken fort hood military base. and clean-up in aisle three. a teenager accidentally drives through a convenience storefront in colorado. hello, and good morning. i'm amara sohn. this is "first look" on msnbc.

today we begin with vote failure. house speaker john boehner has been dealt a major blow from his own party with the clock ticking on the looming default of the nation. yesterday boehner was unable to coral enough support to bring his debt ceiling bill to a vote. tracie potts has the latest details from washington. tracie, good morning. >> reporter: americans are getting nefrk us. the white house is concerned. lawmakers are frustrated, some of them furious with the tea party. one lawmaker called it pretty scary. >> what's going on in the house is crazy. it is an outrage. >> the republicans are holding hostage the credit of the united states of america. >> do you have the votes? >> reporter: he didn't. it may come up again today, but speaker john boehner had to postpone a vote on his $1 trillion deficit plan because he couldn't get enough votes from his own party. >> the last thing we need to do is be playing around with august the 2nd. tea party conservatives

blocked it. >> this is the only proposal on the table that accomplishes the goals we set out to do. >> i can't vote for a bill that only cuts $1 trillion. >> reporter: boehner will try again this morning. he is not giving up. >> we need to try to find a way to pay the nation's bills and do it in a responsible way. >> reporter: what's next? today the treasury department may introduce an emergency plan. some lawmakers say it's time to abandon deficit reduction and focus only on extending america's borrowing. >> a clean debt ceiling vote and then continuing on with this conversation, or failing that, 14th amendment option is what's in front of us. >> reporter: the 14th amendment allows the president to protect america's debt. it does not specifically say it can raise the debt ceiling on its own, and the white house is reluctant to do this. >> tracie potts for us in washington. tracie, thank you for that report.

last night on hardball, chris matthews spoke with a tea party member and asked the republican congressman what made him abandon the tea party's hard line on cut, cap and balance in favor of speaker boehner's plan. >> i still think that's the long term solution and we'll live to fight another day on that bill, but today the plan we have before us is basically what the president's about and that's just threats and ultimatums and tax increases versus the splan that boehner brought. it starts the process of solving the problem by cutting spending and saying we'll have to face the reality that washington can't keep spending money it doesn't have. >> what percentage do you think of the u.s. economy should be spent by the federal government? give me a rough notion. because your party has used numbers for the balanced budget amendment and other programs like the cap measure. what do you want to be? how much federal government

should we have in terms of the dollar? >> sure, chris. i think somewhere around 18% would be a healthy number for the growth of our economy. we've been willing to negotiate on the cuts, but you have to have real cuts. >> don't miss hardball with chris matthews week nights at 5:00 and 7:00 eastern only on msnbc, the praise for politics. in texas the constant reminder of the 2009 massacre at fort hood. police say an awol army soldier was planning a terror attack on military personnel at the base. private first class jason abda was interrupted after suspected bomb making materials were found in his hotel room just outside fort hood. an employee of a gun store where he had bought ammunition alerted police. they got a warrant on a separate charge of child pornography. according to the "new york times," a homeland security department internal report concludes 27 people with terrorist connections were

wrongly issued licenses as pilots and aircraft meks. those licenses were later canceled. the report also reveals that the transportation security administration could not confirm the identities of thousands who have received licenses. part of the problem is that the federal aviation administration can't require a social security number from applicants. the report was requested two years ago after it was determined that the man convicted in the bombing of pan am flight 103 still held an faa license along with others who should not have had them. now here's a look at other stories making news today in america. a couple of of aspiring robbers failed to close a deal at an ohio gas station. the suspect did plenty of break, but it was the entering part that wasn't successful. they tried to hammer their way in, and they were arrested soon after leaving the scene. a rash of smash and grab robberies continue to spread in los angeles last week.

recently released video of the latest incident show a trio of criminals inside a jewelry store using mace and hammers to carry out the crime. the thieves got away with $7,000 worth of merchandise. police say seven similar robberies have occd the beginning of summer. surveillance video captured a terrifying moment inside a colorado 7-eleven. a teen driver accidentally drove into a convenience store, mowing down everything in her path. no one was hurt in the accident. the teen said she mistakenly hit the gas instead of the brake. also, in colorado a hot dog the weiner has been on richard's antenna for the past ten years. his nephews put it on as a joke, but a decade later and with wildlife wanting no part of it, the hot dog has managed to stay put. now for a look at your national weather, here's nbc meteorologist bill karins with

the weather channel forecast. doesn't that look gross? >> i don't believe. ten years? >> and it still stayed on that antenna. >> people have roofs that don't last ten years. unless it like solidified. i don't know. >> what do they put this those hot dogs? yes, you don't want to know. >> i want a full investigation. when's our nbc investigative reporter. good morning, every. the big weather story has been the drought and the heat throughout much of texas. we were very encouraged that we could get a tropical storm that would head over texas and you can see that big red blob. this is tropical storm don. it does not appear that don will bring us the relieve that we need. houston probably won't see anything, corpus krissy christy some showers. it has tracked further south than we would have liked. you can see that the bapath is

more north/northwest. we wanted to end up in central texas. it looks like it will rain itself out over northern mexico and the mountains and that will quickly break the storm up. so even west texas may not get the relief we were hoping for. landfall should be sometime close to midnight and then it will quickly be moving out. so in brownsville, by saturday morning, this could be over with. and it should be anywhere between a 50 to 65-mile-an-hour tropical storm. so at bit of a pump, but it won't do any devastation. we were hoping for rain. you can see the scattered showers off the coast that will be arriving during the day today, but the big block of heavy rain is still well offshore. as far as the other weather stories, we continued our streak of 100 degree days in dallas yesterday. it was also ht in d.c. at 95. and that's the story in the mid-atlantic today. it's a steamy morning and it will be it that way this afternoon.

we have heat advisories right up the coast on i-95 really from philadelphia southwards down in south carolina, still a heat warning around st. louis and also around it tulsa. the additional story is heavy rain this morning, just went through new york city, but back in the southern great lakes, we're getting nailed by thunderstorms really from chicago to detroit has been the worst of it and that will continue. so your fraft today, be prepared for afternoon showers and storms. if you're leaving the door this morning in new york city northwards up through new england, have the umbrella with you. also pittsburgh, buffalo, and southeast, too, will be dodging the thunderstorms later on today. we'll give you the full weekend forecast later. bill, thank you. stocks sag on the debt debate. high pump prices boost profit, and a new way to get your pet to mellow out. your first look at this morning's business headlines is straight ahead. coming up, carlos beltran, giants debut, the feel good moment of the week, and hey, ladies. the pacers have found a way to make tom brady look even better.

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welcome back to "first look". i'm amara sohn. here are some of your top headlines this morning. republican presidential candidate michelle bachmann says she is running for president, not her husband. at the national press club the minnesota congresswoman refused to answer questions about her husband's christian counseling clinic which attempts to convert gay patients and has accepted government funding. the rebel military campaign against leader muammar qadhafi was shot and killed on thursday. polygamous sect leader warren jeffs will be representing himself in his criminal trial after firing his defense team. in opening statements a prosecutor says they'll present audio recordings and dna evidence to prove jeffs raped a 12-year-old and impregnated a 15-year-old. a delaware man convicted of killing a woman with an ax was executed this morning.

robert jackson was put to death by lethal injection. the state's first execution since 2005. and the skeletal remains of a man missing for 27 years was discovered in the chimney of a bank in louisiana during renovation. joseph sheffsnyder got stuck there, and it remains a mystery. the dow opens 12,240 after losing 62 points thursday. the s&p fell four points. the nasdaq was up one. taking a look at overseas trading this morning. in tokyo the nikkei tumbled 68 points, while in hong kong the hang seng dropped 130. a sell-off late in the game yesterday had the dow tallying its fifth straight day of losses. stocks reversed course on late development over the ongoing

debt stalemate. earlier on the markets had been getting a boost on some positive economic data, including weekly jobless claims. the labor department reported claims for unemployment benefits declined more than expected. they dropped below 400,000, a key level for the first time since early april. big oil continued to make big money in the second quarter. exxonmobil reported a 41% jump in profits as gas prices hit three-year highs. results were still short of analysts' expectations. shares of the texas giant ended off more than 2%. on the flip side royal dutch shell had the help of higher fuel prices. the oil company nearly doubled its profit to $8.6 billion. speaking of oil, because of tropical storm don, gulf of mexico producers reduced oil and natural gas output and evacuated some platform workers, but analysts don't expect any prolonged production outages. back on the street, we had

several other companies beating expectations on thursday. they included starbucks, dupont, metlife, and colgate palmolive. pet owners may have a way to keep their pups happy. we're not talking about dog bones and cat nip. a seattle lab is developing a medical marijuana patch for pets. the purpose is to help ailing animals that suffer everything from arthritis to cancer. developers hope to have the patch ready by the end of the year. boy, do we love our pets. the nfl trades you'll be talking about today, and an eruption at the tigers game. your first look at sports is straight ahead. you're watching "first look" on msnbc. research. and some of the most powerful, yet easy to use trading tools on the planet. it's investing with intelligence and cold hard conviction. e-trade. investing unleashed.

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welcome back to "first look." in sports fresh from ending a four-month lockout the nfl is kicking things off with big name trades. here's fred roggin. good morning. the season hasn't even started, and the new england patriots are already big winners. they traded for a pair of pro bowlers. chad ochocinco will try to fill the void by randy moss. and on defense they traded a fifth round to the redskins for albert haynesworth. he is one of the best in the

game when he is motivated and in shape. if anybody can get these two guys to check their egos at the door, it will be bill belichick. reggie bush will be taking his talents to south beach. after five seasons in new orleans, the saints have traded him to the dolphins. pablo sandoval solo shot. he decided put it together to beat the phils 4-1. no beltran. jason bay scored three with a base-clearing double in the fifth. you can't tell that they don't have a playoff spot by the way they're playing. frustration boiled over for the tigers brad penny. he got into it with victor martinez. i don't think they're discussing dinner plans. petty unhappy about the way martinez was calling the game. they both were wrong. tigers lost 5-7. time for the red sox-royals game. josh beckett handed the ball to a young fan, and he was overcome

with emotion. moments like these make going to the ballpark a unique experience. we all know there is no crying in baseball, but we'll let this one fly. i'm fred roggin. now for another look at the weather, here's bill karins. >> yeah, we love the friday weekend forecast time. it's almost here and we have to get through a rather wet and soggy and hot day today. just depends where you are. you'll have one or the other. this morning we had some heavy rain move through new york city, still showers right now. that will be heading off the coast in about a half hour or so. so from 6:00 on, you'll be dry around new york. a lot of heavy rain around buffalo. if you're cloudy, you'll be on the cooler side, wet. but if you get in the sun like you should be in philadelphia, baltimore, also down around d.c., you'll be hot and it will be humid, too. that's why we have heat advisories in effect. so feel fortunate if you

actually get the rain can take and that will be the case late today especially up in thupg. s about ton will be 80, d.c. could be 20 degrees warmer. so a big difference in our big cities. also heavy rain overnight through detroit, that's heading for toledo and cleveland this morning. so you're also going to have to deal with a wet morning and maybe even thunderstorms mixed in. so very warm once again this dallas. afternoon thunderstorms in atlanta. chicago today, you'll dry out because your humt levels will drop a little bit. as we go into saturday, notice that it's not that bad of a mess. saturday is looking hot in mid-atlantic, but d.c. will be 94. and finally into sunday, widespread 90s, but not as wet around the country. so overall this weekend is looking pretty good. >> not should shabby. thank you. can an all-star cast pull in all-star numbers at the box office? plus will captain america meet his match? your first look at entertainment is straight ahead.

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welcome back for first to "first look." last night on late night, jimmy talked about a thief who messed with a wrong celebrity. >> a woman in san francisco -- i'm not laughing. a woman was arrested for stealing cash from alex trebek's hotel room. take deck could tell something was you up when the burglar said i'll take your wallet and

personal belongings for free, . when 911 asked for his location, he said eraekted in 1989, this san francisco hotel became famous for its juke box appearance. and a recent study found it's held if i for women to drink two glasses of wine a day instead of just one. yeah. but i'm a little skeptical of the author, kathie lee and hoda. tonight jimmy welcomes brian williams, rashad evans and big sean. that's late night with jimmy fallon week nights at 11:35 on your local nbc station. fitime for your entertainme news. with three new releases crowding theaters this weekend, it's safe to say there's something for everyone at the box office. harrison ford and daniel craig saddle up in the sci-fi western "cowboys and aliens."

the movie's big name talent should be a big draw for the movie goers to the tune of an expected $42 million. everyone's favorite blue creatures are back and now on the big screen in "the smurfs." the animation hybrid that stars neil patrick harris has been getting abysmal reviews. nostalgia will likely send ticket sales over the $30 million mark. also, the cast might suffer the effect of fatigue after a string of adult comedies. it's expected to debut in fifth place behind "captain america" and "harry potter" with just $17 million. >> i need to know who the movie exec is that ruined the smurfs. >> so mix animation with the real life? >> i heard it was coming out and it's from our childhood,

exciting to see what they would do with it. no what i would have hoped for. >> the originals are always better. >> and the reviews are brutal. >> i know. poor guys. this is "first look" on msnbc. "way too early" starts right now. after delaying the vote deep into the note as he tried to whip his caucus into shape, john boehner fails to pull together the republican votes he needs to pass his debt ceiling bill. the question is how what? chuck todd calls in to help us sort through the possibilities. meanwhile, democrats in congress remind boehner that his bill isn't going to pass the senate anyway. president obama watches the clock with the august 2nd deadline just four days away. the question is, what's the president doing behind the scenes to make sure the united states does not slide into default. and with his career in jeopardy of sliding in to default, tiger woods announces he's now ready to come back after a long injury layoff. the question